Performance Generating Systems in Dance: Dramaturgy, Psychology, and Performativity

Performance generating systems are systematic and task-based dramaturgies that generate performance for or with an audience, drawing on predefined and limited sources while working on specific tasks within constraining rules. They affect the perception, cognition, and learning of dancers and performatively address individual and social conditions of trauma. This book provides analytical frameworks and practical insights for those who wish to study or apply performance generating systems in dance.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 174 pages
Publication date: 24 July 2023
Publisher: Intellect Books

Performance generating systems are intricate and purposeful dramaturgies that create performances for or with an audience. In the realm of dance, these systems exhibit distinct differences compared to more structured choreographed scores and more open forms of structured improvisation. Dancers who engage with these systems draw upon predefined and constrained resources while adhering to specific tasks within predefined rules. The core components of these systems establish boundaries that enable the performance to self-organize into ever-evolving patterns, avoiding repetition or chaos.

This comprehensive book delves into the identifying characteristics and dynamics of these works, as well as the types of dramaturgical agency they facilitate. It elucidates how these systems impact the perception, cognition, and learning of dancers, emphasizing why this is a fundamental aspect of their artistic practice. Furthermore, the book explores how the combined dramaturgical and psychological effects of these systems actively address individual and societal traumas, often remaining unaltered and detrimentally impacting human learning, relationships, and adaptability.

The book offers analytical frameworks and practical insights for those interested in studying or applying performance generating systems in dance, encompassing fields such as dance dramaturgy, dance education, community dance, and dance psychology. Featured cases provide unique insights into systems created by renowned artists like Deborah Hay, Christopher House, William Forsythe, Ame Henderson, Karen Kaeja, and Lee Su-Feh.

Weight: 312g
Dimension: 170 x 244 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789388763